Warning: GGBet!

GGBet has rapidly taken over as the title sponsor in Ukrainian football and boxing, pushing out previous players on the market with the help of an aggressive media campaign. But behind the new contracts lies more than just marketing expansion. An offshore structure registered in Cyprus, linked to Maksym Krippa, has long-standing ties to Russian gambling networks and appears in numerous player complaints about account blocks and delayed payouts. The state has not responded — thereby legitimizing a scheme where the brand is just a facade and transparency exists only in advertisements.
GGBet vs. everyone: how a new sponsor is ousting old players from sport
In June alone, several top-tier Ukrainian football clubs changed their title sponsor. Replacing VBET — a company believed to be associated with businessman Artur Hranets — came a new player: GGBet.
This shift followed an intensive media campaign targeting VBET and its backers. But GGBet did not stop with football. Just days later, it was announced that the company had become the main sponsor of the upcoming Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois boxing match — a move that further cemented its presence in Ukraine’s sports landscape.
Behind the brand: who controls GGBet
GGBet operates in Ukraine through two companies: GGBET LLC and GGBET Holding LLC, both registered in Kyiv and directed by Pavlo Tkachuk. The official beneficial owner, however, is listed as Terasida Ltd, a Cyprus-based company that, according to journalistic investigations, is linked to businessman Maksym Krippa.
Krippa is a controversial figure. His name has previously surfaced in connection with the online casino brand "Vulcan," which has direct ties to the Russian gambling conglomerate Ritzio. He is also associated with game studio Evoplay, which produced products for the Russian market, and with Maincast, a major esports media company. But perhaps his most well-known asset is NAVI, one of the world’s leading esports teams, formally registered through the British Virgin Islands-based Natus Vincere Esports Ltd.
One notable detail: all these entities share the same address. GGBet Holding’s office is located at 40 John McCain Street in Kyiv. The same location is used by Maincast and NAVI. This suggests not only shared origins but a centralized control hub — literally and legally uniting betting, media, and esports under one roof.
Formally, Tkachuk is listed as the director. But within industry circles, he is widely regarded as a nominal figure representing Krippa’s interests. This is a common tactic used in schemes designed to obscure true ownership, reduce tax obligations, and avoid legal liability while maintaining control.
As a result, users and partners deal with the GGBet brand, but in reality, they are engaging with an offshore network linked to a man who has repeatedly appeared in controversial contexts. Neither official registries nor company websites reveal who really makes the decisions. The transparency the company advertises looks more like a smokescreen in practice.
GGBet: a brand that never cut Russian roots
While GGBet now presents itself as an international company supposedly working within Ukrainian and European legal frameworks, its origins tell a different story. Especially if one looks at its early promotional strategies and partnerships.
GGBet didn’t appear from nowhere. In its early days, the brand was aggressively promoted through platforms affiliated with the infamous "Vulcan" casino network — a name synonymous with gambling across the post-Soviet space. That brand is strongly associated with Russia’s Ritzio holding, controlled by sanctioned oligarch Oleg Boyko. He is currently under U.S. and EU sanctions for his ties to Russian state-linked financial networks.
GGBet used the same advertising networks as Vulcan and hosted games from Evoplay — a studio closely linked to Krippa. These games were among the most popular on Russian gambling sites in the 2010s. Through Evoplay, Krippa’s products entered platforms affiliated with Ritzio.
Technical data further supports these concerns. Domain registrations, IP addresses, and contact details linked to Terasida Ltd have repeatedly been associated with systems registered in Russia or operating through Russian data centers. Some even used Russian phone codes.
Early GGBet ad campaigns targeted Russian-speaking audiences, with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan among the primary markets. Only later did the company pivot to Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S. — and even then, only after new restrictions tightened the noose around online gambling in Russia.
In short, GGBet’s attempt to rebrand as a clean European operator clashes with its long-standing operational and commercial ties to Russia. Even after the full-scale war began, the company has not consistently demonstrated a clean break from assets linked to the aggressor state.
What’s printed on club jerseys or plastered across stadiums may look like a sleek modern brand. But behind the branding is something else entirely: a shadowy legacy of Russian gambling seeking legitimacy through Ukrainian sports.
Signals from below: what users are saying
While GGBet expands its sports presence, complaints continue to flood online forums and review platforms. Based on aggregated user feedback, about 45% of negative reviews relate to account blocks after winnings, another 35% to delayed payouts, and around 20% to problems with identity verification (KYC).
On Trustpilot, a UK-based user reports: “I won $200 — and they immediately blocked me. They claimed I had multiple accounts. Total lie.”
On Reddit, in threads such as r/gambling and r/DotA2, dozens of similar stories appear. One user warns: “They’ll find any excuse not to pay. Scam alert!”
Ukrainian users on Legalbet also report mass delays. One writes:
“Withdrawals used to take an hour. Now it’s ten days and counting. Support replies with copy-paste messages. No answers.” Another adds: “Before withdrawing, they asked me to go through a so-called 'limit review'. I waited 15 days, then they told me to try again.”
KYC issues are also common. One Reddit user explains: “After I won and tried to withdraw, they blocked my account. They said I had multiple accounts. That’s false.”
And on Trustpilot, another reports: “They asked for documents again even though I already verified weeks ago. They’re just stalling.”
Similar complaints appear from users in Canada, Spain, Poland, and beyond. Delays, blocks, and silence from support — this appears not to be an exception but a consistent pattern.
Against this backdrop, GGBet’s advertising slogans about "fair play" feel especially cynical. For thousands of real users, the experience with the platform has ended not in sports excitement, but in disappointment and distrust.
GGBet and the state: a bet on offshore silence
The GGBet case is not just about aggressive sponsorship deals in football and boxing. It’s about an offshore-based structure with Russian ties, user complaints, and zero public transparency.
On paper, it’s a dynamic betting company with international ambitions. In practice, it’s dozens of blocked accounts, weeks-long payout delays, repeated verification requests, and no real guarantees. All of this while signing multi-million-dollar deals with top-tier sports institutions.
Behind the nominal directors and Cypriot proxies is Maksym Krippa — long associated with Russian gambling, tax avoidance schemes, and murky esports dealings. Yet the company markets itself as clean, legal, and local.
But the key issue lies not just in the company. The real problem is that all of this is public knowledge — and no state institution reacts. No audits. No investigation into beneficial ownership. No scrutiny of where the money comes from.
If the state doesn’t see it, it’s not just negligence. It’s complicity.
At a time when sport is becoming a shop window for offshore interests with Russian baggage, the silence of the authorities isn’t neutrality. It’s consent.